As Cook County state’s attorney Kim Foxx’s first year in office has drawn to a close, a group of independent justice system observers have published a new report evaluating her leadership thus far. Foxx ran against former state’s attorney Anita Alvarez on a reformist platform, vowing to institute a variety of changes to the prosecutor’s office, from greater data transparency to changes in criminal charging practices. The report found that she’s making progress on some of her promises, but there’s plenty of room for improvement.
The report’s authors chided Foxx for making little progress in reducing the collateral consequences of criminal prosecution on immigration status, particularly given the Trump administration’s push to increase collaboration between local law enforcement and immigration enforcement authorities. The authors found that, “While Foxx continues to voice public support for undocumented victims of crimes and an intention to develop more specific policies to reduce the collateral consequences of prosecution on documented and undocumented immigrants, the state’s attorney’s office has not yet released any specific proposals.” They found it particularly troubling that prosecutors have continued the established norm of bringing up a person’s country of birth in bond court and asking whether they wish to have their consulates notified of their situation—a question that, I’ve observed, usually is answered with a “no.” This practice calls attention to a person’s immigration background in open court, “creating a possible record of non-citizenship that could expose them to immigration repercussions.”
I asked the state’s attorney’s office what steps Foxx is taking to communicate the seriousness of her reform agenda to career staff. Are there new incentives for prosecutors to seek justice over trial wins and case dispositions? Is there oversight to make sure the new values of the office are being practiced?
